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Speaking of Rika's inevitable deaths, how come each artist draws it differently? First time shown in the Curse Killing Arc, she had a blank expression before Keiichi's freakout. Like, "Oh no, I've been killed or whatev. Better luck next time, I guess." Next time in the Beyond Midnight arc (is that it?), she has a pretty demented smile. Like "Oh boy, I've been murdered." In the Massacre Arc, she has a shocked expression. Like "Oh sh*t, not this again!"

I suppose so, and also because Rika's ritual dance was once a performance involving the removal of one's intestines. Rika's death under Takano also comes into play, because Rika dies soon after her dance. So, in sense, a real "dance of the death".

True, true. There's a lot of parallels to the Cotton Drifting Festival when it comes to Rika, I think it's really neat.

Spoiler:- :

Though it may also be a parallel to Hanyuu, as she's considered the reincarnation of Oyashiro. Hanyuu died through the use of the dissection ritual, after all.

Thye never explained it, but I believe that Hanyuu was watching, horrified and transfixed, as thd deadly dance took place, and Rika, irritated that the spirit was such a coward and could do nothing but watch, screamed her name in frustration. That is my idea, anyways...

Sounds plausible.

Originally Posted by matt0044

Speaking of Rika's inevitable deaths, how come each artist draws it differently? First time shown in the Curse Killing Arc, she had a blank expression before Keiichi's freakout. Like, "Oh no, I've been killed or whatev. Better luck next time, I guess." Next time in the Beyond Midnight arc (is that it?), she has a pretty demented smile. Like "Oh boy, I've been murdered." In the Massacre Arc, she has a shocked expression. Like "Oh sh*t, not this again!"

What gives?

Prior to Massacre arc, she was always drugged and knocked out before they killed her. Her eyes are blank because, well, there's no light in them anymore, and it's possible her eyes had opened at one point, but because she was in a drugged state, everything was blurry.

That's like saying all of the manga artists had to draw in the same style, no exceptions. That's really hard to do.

I want you to look at the first volume of Massacre arc again, and look at the shards in the beginning of the chapter. When they point out and show some scenes from previous arcs, while you can tell what scenes they are, they're visually different compared to those previously-done arcs. Every one of those manga artists had a different interpretation of what certain scenes look like, even with the complete written detail in the sound novel. (Because that's the source they're using: the sound novels. They're not really taking a lot of cues from the anime.)

So naturally, every single artist who had to draw Rika's dead body would have a different way of showing it. But it's still the same thing. You can't exactly have "consistency" when every world has slight differences. So I imagine that Rika has a different expression on her face every time she is cut open. Heck, we're not shown how she died in the Cotton Drifting arc, we just know that Shion tortured her to death. So I suppose that upon recognizing the outcome of that world had similarities to the Eye Opening world, Rika chose to kill herself instead.

I liked how each arc was slightly different. It made each reset refreshing.

It gets more annoying in Umineko because each arc is a sequel to the last. For example, in Episode 5 the characters all have sharp features (like a shonen manga) and in Episode 6 the characters all have round faces and cute eyes (like a shojo manga). It's hard to adjust to.

Point taken. Though Rika looked really silly when she was smiling after her death. Was she drugged with morphine prior to being disemboweled?

The only time she ever "smiled" when she died was when she clawed out her own throat in Eye-Opening. I think that was the whole point, as she "smiled" because she didn't grant Shion that pleasure to kill her, and so it was like a small victory for her in being able to change fate just a little bit.

After all, in the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening arcs, we aren't told if the Great Hinamizawa Disaster ever happened (though all of her friends except Rena die). Perhaps she had figured that out that one brief moment. We don't know if she ever killed herself in other worlds, though, so it's hard to say on that one.

EDIT:

BREAKING NEWS

Announced on December 15th, Higurashi is getting a relaunch called Higurashi no NakuKoro ni Kaku. It will be based off the short story Higurashi: Outbreak written by Ryukishi07 himself. Whether it becomes an anime, or a film has yet to be announced.

Announced on December 15th, Higurashi is getting a relaunch called Higurashi no NakuKoro ni Kaku. It will be based off the short story Higurashi: Outbreak written by Ryukishi07 himself. Whether it becomes an anime, or a film has yet to be announced.

This is probably my second favorite anime/manga series ever. I remember a friend of mine showing it to me years ago since "it starts off kinda fruity but then gets crazy". Haha pretty much the only way to describe it. I then watched the rest of the series and easily fell in love with it. Haven't had much time for anime/manga these days so I haven't gone through the story in years...

But this past year I've been systematically collecting the manga and I believe I have everything up to date for North America (Massacre Arc part 1). My break just started so I'm planning to actually read the manga since they've been sitting on the shelf for awhile. =P For those who've gone through both the manga and the anime, how close are they? It's a pretty generic question, but I'm just kinda curious. I read through the Beyond Midnight arc so I know at least that bit is manga specific.

Also, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni would've said "when they cry" but I wanted to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I instinctively bought it when I saw it in the bookstore, since it's clearly related. But what is it exactly? Just wanted to know what to expect.

If any of this has previously been discussed then you can just direct me to the page. I'm too lazy to go through the thread. lol

For those who've gone through both the manga and the anime, how close are they? It's a pretty generic question, but I'm just kinda curious. I read through the Beyond Midnight arc so I know at least that bit is manga specific.

Having seen the anime first myself as well, I can say that you can see similarities between the two, since both do take after the original sound novels. However, the manga goes into much more detail than the anime, as close to the original sound novel as possible. Thus, combined with awesome artwork, the manga is a superior medium for the series than the anime. Though the sound novels are much more scarier and freaky because they're all narrated in first-person, and thus you go mad along with the narrator.

Also, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni would've said "when they cry" but I wanted to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I instinctively bought it when I saw it in the bookstore, since it's clearly related. But what is it exactly? Just wanted to know what to expect.

I'm not the right person to answer this question (Ninja Bulbasaur, ForeverFlame or Moonlight Amaryllis are), but from what I can understand, it's basically Higurash, only witches are more involved, and it does give much more answers to why Higurashi happened. It's also bloodier. I'm personally waiting until after I collect all of the Higurashi volumes before I go for Umineko. By then, they'll probably have finished translating Episode II.

Announced on December 15th, Higurashi is getting a relaunch called Higurashi no NakuKoro ni Kaku. It will be based off the short story Higurashi: Outbreak written by Ryukishi07 himself. Whether it becomes an anime, or a film has yet to be announced.

Yuck. They need to leave Higurashi alone. Kira was enough of a disgrace as it is.

Originally Posted by Pikawho?

For those who've gone through both the manga and the anime, how close are they? It's a pretty generic question, but I'm just kinda curious. I read through the Beyond Midnight arc so I know at least that bit is manga specific.

The manga is much, much better. After reading the manga you won't want to look back at the Anime. It did a pretty awful job of adapting the story, tbh. The manga has better backstories, explains the resets better, and has better foreshadowing than the Anime.

Originally Posted by Pikawho?

Also, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni would've said "when they cry" but I wanted to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I instinctively bought it when I saw it in the bookstore, since it's clearly related. But what is it exactly? Just wanted to know what to expect.

Umineko starts off similarly to Higurashi. The difference is that it's a murder mystery (18 people trapped on an island during a typhoon while there's a murderer on the loose) while Higurashi is straight up horror. Umineko does the resets differently than Higurashi, however, but you don't have to worry about that until Episode 2 (Turn of the Golden Witch).

Umineko has more characters than Higurashi, is quite a bit longer, and is a loooootttttt more confusing. There's a meta-world, and later on there's a meta-meta-world, a meta-meta-meta-world, and at the end of the story there's a meta-meta-meta-meta-world. Thankfully Umineko is long and takes things really slowly so it isn't that bad if you pay close attention to details.

Just know that Umineko isn't as accessible as Higurashi and if you start collecting it, you're in it for the long run. IMO it's worth it though.

Having seen the anime first myself as well, I can say that you can see similarities between the two, since both do take after the original sound novels. However, the manga goes into much more detail than the anime, as close to the original sound novel as possible. Thus, combined with awesome artwork, the manga is a superior medium for the series than the anime. Though the sound novels are much more scarier and freaky because they're all narrated in first-person, and thus you go mad along with the narrator.

Wait there's a sound novel? I thought it was loosely based off of a computer game...I know less about this series than I thought...

Originally Posted by ForeverFlame

Umineko starts off similarly to Higurashi. The difference is that it's a murder mystery (18 people trapped on an island during a typhoon while there's a murderer on the loose) while Higurashi is straight up horror. Umineko does the resets differently than Higurashi, however, but you don't have to worry about that until Episode 2 (Turn of the Golden Witch).

Umineko has more characters than Higurashi, is quite a bit longer, and is a loooootttttt more confusing. There's a meta-world, and later on there's a meta-meta-world, a meta-meta-meta-world, and at the end of the story there's a meta-meta-meta-meta-world. Thankfully Umineko is long and takes things really slowly so it isn't that bad if you pay close attention to details.

Just know that Umineko isn't as accessible as Higurashi and if you start collecting it, you're in it for the long run. IMO it's worth it though.

Huh. The scenario has been used before but it still sounds interesting. Does it share any direct link to Higurashi or is it it's own separate universe?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably keep up with it. If it's anything like Higurashi then I'll have no problem sticking with it.

Thanks guys! I'll start going through the manga soon. Should be fun jumping back into the Higurashi world.

Umineko is different from most mysteries because of its fantasy vs mystery theme.

As for the Higurashi connection - yes, it is there. It's sort of confusing to explain, but it will make sense once you reach that part of the story. The main connection, however, is the premise of how there are 8 main arcs, each one with the main tragedy repeating itself in a different manner each time.

Yuck. They need to leave Higurashi alone. Kira was enough of a disgrace as it is.

Well, at least Higurashi transitions better into anime than Umineko did. I'm personally excited for this one. As it's based off a short story Ryukishi07 did himself, I'm sure it's back to the ol' Higurashi we know and love. I don't know where to find Higurashi: Outbreak, whether it's like a CD Drama or what, so I can't look into its original form. I just know it was included with the Higurashi Daybreak soundtrack.

Originally Posted by Pikawho?

Wait there's a sound novel? I thought it was loosely based off of a computer game...I know less about this series than I thought...

The sound novel is for the PC, if that's what you're thinking about. It technically is a game, but it's called a sound novel. It's like a visual novel, only it uses music and sound effects and not voice acting and (great) visuals to tell the story. I think it worked very well as a sound novel. It's a shame most people get into the anime first, but in my opinion, I think it's a good thing to go through the anime (or manga) first. That way, when you do find the sound novel and play through it, you know what to expect, but the extra information that may have been left out will make things much more easier to understand--it did for me, anyway. It also scared me more, though the manga has haunting visuals that took it up a notch. *shudders*

I liked how each arc was slightly different. It made each reset refreshing.

It gets more annoying in Umineko because each arc is a sequel to the last. For example, in Episode 5 the characters all have sharp features (like a shonen manga) and in Episode 6 the characters all have round faces and cute eyes (like a shojo manga). It's hard to adjust to.

I didn't really notice the difference >.< I just noticed when I reconized an art style from a previous Umineko manga or a Higurashi one.

Originally Posted by matt0044

Point taken. Though Rika looked really silly when she was smiling after her death. Was she drugged with morphine prior to being disemboweled?

...can you say that in simpler English?

Originally Posted by Kutie Pie

EDIT:

BREAKING NEWS

Announced on December 15th, Higurashi is getting a relaunch called Higurashi no NakuKoro ni Kaku. It will be based off the short story Higurashi: Outbreak written by Ryukishi07 himself. Whether it becomes an anime, or a film has yet to be announced.

Hau-au-au, sounds intresting. I wonder if it'll be about a previous world or something...

Originally Posted by Pikawho?

Also, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni would've said "when they cry" but I wanted to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I instinctively bought it when I saw it in the bookstore, since it's clearly related. But what is it exactly? Just wanted to know what to expect.

If any of this has previously been discussed then you can just direct me to the page. I'm too lazy to go through the thread. lol

It's pretty supernatural compared to Higurashi, it's about a family caught on an island in the middle of nowhere and the family members keep dying as the day drags on. That's how I sum EP1 in a single sentence. The rest of the episodes are about the battle if witches exist or not and solving the repeated murders as if a human did it. There's a lot of repeating "worlds" like in Higurashi, but it's more, er (how do I put it...), more easier to understand that Higurashi sometimes. There are the links between the series here and there, but they're not real links (some, anyways). The storyline's very convoluted in a way, but I grasped it better because I tackled Umineko before Higurashi and I understand it better. That might just be me and my immature mind, though...

Originally Posted by Kutie Pie

I'm not the right person to answer this question (Ninja Bulbasaur, ForeverFlame or Moonlight Amaryllis are), but from what I can understand, it's basically Higurash, only witches are more involved, and it does give much more answers to why Higurashi happened. It's also bloodier. I'm personally waiting until after I collect all of the Higurashi volumes before I go for Umineko. By then, they'll probably have finished translating Episode II.

I'm agreeing with you on that one, KP. It's a lot more graphic...and anime-wise there's more censoring then Higurashi :U

I have another pretty dumb Higurashi question; Shion's Hinamizawa Syndrome was created by Satoshi's disappearance and Keiichi's similarities. Rika's Spoiler:- MAJOR SPOILER:

and Tomitake's

was from the syringe. Satoko's was from her uncle's return. Keiichi's was from Spoiler:- Curse Killing spoiler:

killing Satoko's uncle.

Rena's was from her insanity and her tramua of her parent's divorce.

But what triggered Keiichi's in Abducted by Demons? He never lived in Hinamizawa in the first place, and he doesn't have any "demon blood" or whatever. I'm confused...

(((i haven't used this site in about five years so if i mess up call me out)))

But what triggered Keiichi's in Abducted by Demons? He never lived in Hinamizawa in the first place, and he doesn't have any "demon blood" or whatever. I'm confused...

When you live in Hinamizawa, you are infected with the syndrome. He had moved there, according to the beginning of the Demoned Away arc, a month prior to the beginning of the story. He had left for a few days to go to a funeral. His paranoia can be traced back to when he found the magazine featuring the construction manager's grisly murder. Then he learned about Oyashiro's curse, which started with the manager's death.

When Ooishi called him over the day after the Cotton Drifting for questioning, he started asking him questions about everything involving the curse. Ooishi was then telling him that his friends were all connected (which is true, somewhat). He would go on to say the Sonozakis are the ones behind everything, which is Spoiler:- :

Rule Z of all the Hinamizawa worlds: the Sonozakis are "behind" the curse, and everyone believes it.

Meanwhile his friends were asking him rather innocent questions, especially when they were asking him about Ooishi, and thus his paranoia took over.

I liked how each arc was slightly different. It made each reset refreshing.

It gets more annoying in Umineko because each arc is a sequel to the last. For example, in Episode 5 the characters all have sharp features (like a shonen manga) and in Episode 6 the characters all have round faces and cute eyes (like a shojo manga). It's hard to adjust to.

I am inclined to agree. While in Higurashi the world was different, it's basically the same in Umineko, so the sudden changes in the art style are rather irritating.

Originally Posted by matt0044

Point taken. Though Rika looked really silly when she was smiling after her death. Was she drugged with morphine prior to being disemboweled?

It sounds like something her killer would do, but it could have simply been the artist being silly.

Originally Posted by Kutie Pie

EDIT:

BREAKING NEWS

Announced on December 15th, Higurashi is getting a relaunch called Higurashi no NakuKoro ni Kaku. It will be based off the short story Higurashi: Outbreak written by Ryukishi07 himself. Whether it becomes an anime, or a film has yet to be announced.

What?! It isn't being adapted into a manga first, but being a part of the anime straight away? Odd...It also seems that they are using the old style from the first Higurashi season, rather then the more professional and clean style they used prior. I wonder why...

Originally Posted by Pikawho?

Also, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni would've said "when they cry" but I wanted to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I instinctively bought it when I saw it in the bookstore, since it's clearly related. But what is it exactly? Just wanted to know what to expect.

Greetings Pikawho, and welcome to the thread~!

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (When They Seagulls Cry) is, like Higurashi, a murder mystery involving the supernatural and proving it wrong, but rather then demons and insanity, Umineko involves witches, magic, and variety of things such as that. It centers around a family and their servants, totalled to eighteen, who gather on an island off the coast of wherever in Japan (I cannot remember the exact location, lol). They are to discuss what will happen to their enormous fortune after the head of the family, Kinzo, dies. But suddenly, in true Ryukishi07 style, family member and servant, one after the other, meet their gorey demise. They say it is the work of a witch, and not any witch; THE witch of Rokkenjima (the island they are staying at), who was said to be whom Kinzo had loved for years and has dabbled in the dakr arts to bring her back from the apperent dead. The murders seem to be impossible to be done by any human means...is it really a witch? Or is it the work of a jealous family member?

It sounds like something her killer would do, but it could have simply been the artist being silly.

I don't know why you would make Rika's death scene silly, though... either way, Rika's face in rigor mortis is terrifying.

What?! It isn't being adapted into a manga first, but being a part of the anime straight away? Odd...It also seems that they are using the old style from the first Higurashi season, rather then the more professional and clean style they used prior. I wonder why...

I think it will get a manga eventually. And I don't think they're using the old style, that'd be pointless. But if they were, then the animation would still be up to par... hopefully. (Then again, we don't know who's animating this, whether it's still Studio DEEN, or another studio.)

Agreed, Kira basically destroyed the whole point of the series.

Well... to be honest, Kira takes place right after the tragedy was broken. Naturally, they'd want to be silly and have fun. And though fan service is a part of Higurashi, they went overboard with it in Kira. The only good thing that came from Kira was the last episode, which I liked how they touched upon Hanyuu's motherly side, because we never did get to see it in the anime--not even Rei showed it. Heck, we only got told of Hanyuu's story through her words, we never did see a flashback except for when she was consulting with her daughter, then it cuts away before anything happens. I came to like Hanyuu more because of that adorable Kira episode.

...no, I'm not defending Kira, I agree that it was a bad OVA, but come on, guys. The last episode was the only good episode from it because it was decent.

Anyway, I'm caught up with the Higurashi manga ^_^. Read the second Massacre volume in two hours (something my parents were a bit surprised in knowing I read the first half in an hour's time). Though I was a bit taken aback on the Demon Exposing volume. It's bigger than normal, so it's really going to stick out on my bookshelf. Not that I'm complaining, the arc is a good side-story, though I don't care for the artwork at times.

I have to snicker at Teppei's facial expressions at the end, though. The artist tried to make him look crazy and warped, but it kinda had the opposite effect. Though if I saw someone with that face in real life, I'd get creeped out, too... but damn was the abuse portrayed very tragically in the manga. It was hard to read and look at when Teppei started pushing and punching Satoko around.

At the moment, it's possibly Time-Killing. It honestly is a waste of time, even if that's the whole point of that arc. Heck, even the sound novel says you can skip it if you wish, but then you miss out on a few things like Akasaka, Rika's real side, and the real importance the arc has on the whole series. Still, it's either too slow, or too fast in some parts to the point you have to read through it again a few times to catch things you missed, and even then you don't feel like it because you know it'll be a waste of time.

I also don't really like the style. It's not a bad style, just not one I like to look at from time to time in long intervals (even if I get used to it).

Thankfully, the arc is like the shortest of all the arcs. Still... it was decent at least. I have of yet to read a Higurashi arc that sucked (not counting anything from the anime here), but eh.

Though it makes me wonder if Yen Press will actually translate the Dice-Killing arc. It's only like one volume, but it shows us Hanyuu's backstory (hopefully in better detail in the manga, the OVA disappointed me).

Time-Killing. The whole point is to give us the Rika plot twist on a silver platter, but it was already super obvious by that point. The manga even gives it away at the end of the first arc (I'm not sure if the sound novel does as well).

The manga even gives it away at the end of the first arc (I'm not sure if the sound novel does as well).

Yeah, the ending to the first arc in the manga was pretty in your face about it, but I think it made some sense for new-comers. If I remember correctly, it is mentioned in Demoned Away that Rika is believed to be the reincarnation of Oyashiro or at least a priestess (especially with the Cotton Drifting Festival scene), so her saying "we'll see them again" was probably her way of some spiritual comfort or something like that. But yeah, to someone who's aware of everything, it was obvious what she meant. So it stuck out quite a bit.

But in the sound novel, no, Rika didn't have any extra lines at the end or anything. It was kept pretty quiet. But the game was at least kind sneaky enough to drop hints from the very first arc. (Remember Keiichi saying he could hear someone breathe behind him?)

I wouldn't really say it was given to us on a silver platter (bronze maybe, but not silver), but it at least did give us more information about what was going to happen, and also so Akasaka's appearance in the Massacre arc (or heck, in the final Tip for Atonement arc) wouldn't be so sudden and out of the blue.

Still, Ryukishi07 pretty much came up with it while working on Eye-Opening, so he probably rushed it a little bit, and thus the reason why it felt too different, and somewhat flawed. Of course, I also hear complaints about the Demoned Away arc itself being really slow and boring at times, so... *shrugs*

Yeah, the ending to the first arc in the manga was pretty in your face about it, but I think it made some sense for new-comers. If I remember correctly, it is mentioned in Demoned Away that Rika is believed to be the reincarnation of Oyashiro or at least a priestess (especially with the Cotton Drifting Festival scene), so her saying "we'll see them again" was probably her way of some spiritual comfort or something like that. But yeah, to someone who's aware of everything, it was obvious what she meant. So it stuck out quite a bit.

Oh yeah. At first, a newcomer to the series would believe Rika was trying to comfort Satoko, like "when we die, they'll be right there waiting for us in the afterlife." But reading future arcs puts this into a brand new context.

I don't know why you would make Rika's death scene silly, though... either way, Rika's face in rigor mortis is terrifying.

:U

Originally Posted by Kutie Pie

A small topic to boost some activity around here:

Do you have a least-favorite arc?

Not yet, though the majority of the "arcs" in Higurashi Kira were the biggest WTF stuff, but hey, it was funny. Time Killing, yes, I can say that arc didn't really feel it's best, but it was still a good arc to me. I liked Rika's darker side being shown in this, and it draws into the idea that Rika might be a bigger character than we realised. After that arc is I think the Eye-Opening arc. We see Spoiler:- Eye Opening spoiler:

Rika attacking Shion with the syringe

, which makes you want to think "wait, does Rika have more to her than meets the eye, kana kanaa?". After is the Atontment arc Spoiler:- Atontment Arc spoiler:

with Keichi's remembering the previous world which he kills Rena and Mion.

Rika has her moments in that, and you're like "goddamit, what's going on?!". Kai starts, then you're like "OH NOW I GET IT".

...How in the hell did I get all the way to that?!

Originally Posted by matt0044

Oh yeah. At first, a newcomer to the series would believe Rika was trying to comfort Satoko, like "when we die, they'll be right there waiting for us in the afterlife." But reading future arcs puts this into a brand new context.

Yup, that makes sense.

I gotta another really stupid question; When do we figure out about Ritsuko's being killed having to do with Teppei?

(((i haven't used this site in about five years so if i mess up call me out)))

I gotta another really stupid question; When do we figure out about Ritsuko's being killed having to do with Teppei?

In the anime at least, you see her getting captured by thugs or Sonozaki goons in Massacre, and almost immediately afterwards, Teppei shows up (and the police believe he's a suspect). Savvy viewers can make the connection there.

I think this is shown in the manga and sound novels as well, but nothing's coming to mind at the moment. I don't have my manga copy on me. Just take my word for it XP.